Worksites, particularly mining worksites, are increasingly using automated machines, such as automated dozers, to move earth into position for excavation and processing. The automated machines often work in parallel slots using location information and topographical maps to determine where to load and spread. In many cases, the spread zone is at a crest or ledge where traveling too far may result in the machine tipping over the crest or causing a slide. In these cases, the machine may be released from automatic control and operated manually by a remote human operator.
It is possible that more machines may enter the spread zone than there are human operators to manually control them. In this case, it is common to stop a machine prior to its entering the spread zone. However, restarting a machine with a fully loaded blade induces a great deal of stress on multiple areas of the machine from the blade to the drive train. This may lead to increased wear and unnecessarily accelerate component failure in the drive train, tracks, and blade components of the machine.
With respect to preventing multiple machines from being in a particular operating zone, U.S. Pat. No. 8,265,873 (the '873 patent) discloses a system that divides the path for a mobile unit into segments and reserves various segments along its path to prevent multiple units from concurrently occupying the same path segment. The '873 patent at least fails to account for a state of the machine, such as blade load, when allocating segment reservations.